U.s. Attempts To Ease Strains With Mubarak

October 22, 1985|The New York Times

CAIRO, EGYPT — A special American envoy sent to try to ease diplomatic strains growing out of the Achille Lauro hijacking told President Hosni Mubarak Monday that President Reagan hoped Egypt and the United States would ``put our recent differences behind us.``

Mubarak, who in a television interview broadcast Sunday accused the United States of a ``stab in the back,`` had no public comment after the two-hour meeting.

The American envoy, Deputy Secretary of State John C. Whitehead, described the talks as a ``thorough and friendly discussion.``

After the meeting, Whitehead flew to Tunisia, another longtime United States ally, which was angered at Reagan`s expression of approval for the Israeli air raid on Palestine Liberation Organization headquarters.

Whitehead has already been to Italy, where the government of Bettino Craxi fell after a party in the governing coalition pulled out over the handling of the hijacking, particularly the decision to release Mohammed Abbas, a senior Palestinian official whom the United States has described as the ``mastermind`` of the hijacking.

Mubarak has condemned as ``piracy`` the forcing down of an Egyptian airliner carrying the four Palestinian hijackers of the Achille Lauro. The incident has gravely strained relations with a major American ally in the Middle East.